Fastener for flooring



Sept. 5, 1933. 5. J. WOLFSON FASTENER FOR FLOORING Filed Oct. 20, 19503mm cit/T Wo/fSo/i 0 parquet he Patented Sept. 5, 1933 FASTENER FORFLOORING Samuel J. Wclfson, Everett, Mass, assignor, by

direct mesne assignments, to Concrete-' Wood Floor Clip Company, Inc,Charlestown, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application October24), 1930. Serial No. 490,071

4 Claims.

This application is a continuation in part of my prior application forpatent, Serial Number 454,- 047, filed May 26, 1930.

The present invention relates, in its broader aspects, to means forfastening together a plurality of strips or the like of wood. Moreparticularly, the invention has especial relation to fasteners for woodflooring, and specifically to that type of wood flooring commonlydesignated ing.

The pr iary object of the present invention is to provide simple, noveland eiiicient means for holding the several component strips or parts ofa composite wooden structure, such as a unit of par uetry, securelytogether.

objects are to provide fasteners of the character mentioned which shallbe cheaply an quickly manufactured, and which shall be of application tothe objects with which they are intended to coact with a minimum oflabor and effort, but which shall nevertheless satisfactorily theirintended functions.

To the accomplishment of these objects, and such others may hereinafterappear, the various features of the present invention relate to certaindevices, combinations, and arrangements of parts fully set forthhereinafter, the advantages of which will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the to which this invention pertains.

The various features of th invention will be best understood from aninspection of the accompanying sheet of drawing illustrating severalpreferred forms of th invention.

In the said drawing,

Fig. l is a top plan view of a unit of parquetry flooring embodying thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial end view of one of the parquetry units, looking inthe direction of the arrow A in Fig. 1;

I Fig. 3 is a top plan view of one modification of fastener orstrip-securing device;

Fig. i is a pe spective view of part of a modified form of fastener,shown as applied to a pair of strips of flooring;

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the fastener shown in Fig. 4, andparticularly illustrates the construction of the ends of the latter;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of part of a third form of fastener, shownas applied to a pair of strips of fioorings; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the fastener shown in Fig. 6.

Similar reference numerals designate similar parts throughout theseveral figures of drawing.

According to the present invention, each unit tastes and diiierentpurposes.

of parquet flooring may preferably comprise a plurality of strips 11,12, 13 and 14 of suitable and desirably relatively thin high-grade wood,such as maple, spruce or the like. These strips are illustrated, in Fig.l of the drawing, as being of such length and width as to form a squareunit of parquetry when assembled. However, it is obvious that the numberand dimensions of the several strips may be varied to suit different inorder to enable the several component strips 11, l2, l3 and 14 to besecurely fastened together to form a unit of parquetry, they areprovided with a suitable number of transversely-extending spaced groovesof a suitable width and depth, as hereinafter explained in greaterdetail. The number of such grooves employed will obviously depend uponthe shape and size of the unit of flooring.

Relatively thin metallic strips 16, the several edges of which areprovided with saw-tooth-like projections or teeth 17, and havingtonguelike ends 1'7, are adapted to be'disposed in the bottoms of thegrooves 15 with the teeth of the edges biting intothe adjacent strips11, 12, 13 and 14. In this way the several strips are effectively boundtov gether as a unit to successfully resist forces acting thereon in anydirection and tending todisplace them relative to each other. 7

Each fastener strip 16 is originally transversely bent, as is shown indotted lines in Fig. 2, so that its effective original width is equal tothat of its cooperating groove 15. By hammering or otherwise exerting apressure on the face of the strip 16 in the direction of the arrow B'(Fig. 2), the strip is flattened out and the projections or teeth onits edges are driven into biting relation with the adjacent wood stripsas shown.

The edges of each unit 10 of parquetry are severally milled to providethem with grooves 18 and 19, and tongues 20, whereby the unit is en- Iabled to coact with a suitably-constructed clip, as disclosed in myafore-mentioned pending application.

The grooves 15 extend upwardly to the bottom- 100511 tongues 20 ismaintained, and acontinuous support is afforded to the coasting clip,afore-mentioned.

It will, of course, be understood that the intermediate portion of thestrip 16 represented by produced product.

broken lines in Fig. 3, is formed with saw-toothlike projectionsconstituting a continuation of the projections shown.

Referring now to Fig. 4 of the drawing, a second modification offastener strip, here designated as 21, is shown in operativerelationship with a pair of flooring strips 11' and 12'. According tothis modification of the invention, the f astener 21 may be constructedof a substantially U-shaped strip of rigid metal.

The sides of the U-shaped strip 21 are preferably provided with aplurality of substantially contiguous teeth, projections, orcorrugations 22, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The strips 21 maypreferably terminate in flat tonguelike ends 23 projecting from the baseof the U portion thereof, as shown in Fig. 5. It will be understood thatthe intermediate portion of strip 21, represented by broken lines inFig. 5, is preferably corrugated to correspond to the showing thereof inFig. 4.

When this form of fastener is employed, the several units of parquetryare formed with grooves 15 of a depth equal to the depth of the grooves15 and of a width very slightly less than the width of the fastener 21.The fasteners are forced or wedged into place in the grooves 15, and thecorrugations or projections 22 bite into the Walls of the said groovesto efiectively and securely hold the several component strips 11, 12,etc., against relative displacement.

The fasteners 21 may preferably be manufactured from ordinary umbrellaribbing, which forms an efficiently rigid and relatively-cheaply t is tobe understood that the projections 22, instead of being disposed at thesides of the strip 21, may be conveniently struck out from the bottom ofthe U to provide an equally effective fastener.

Y As in the case of the first modification, the tongues 23 of this formare adapted to take the place of those portions of tongues 20 which arecut out in the formation of grooves 15', thus preserving the continuityof the last-named tongues. According to the third form of the invention,which is illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7, the fastener 24 is constructedfrom a substantially rigid length of wire of suitable metal. The body ofthe said fastener 24 is formed along the sides thereof with teeth,projections, or corrugations 25. The ends of the fastener body mayterminate in flat tongues 26, which correspond in structure and intendedfunction to tongues 17 and 23, afore-described.

In using this simple improved form of fastener, the unit of parquetry isprovided with a groove 27 substantially conforming to the shape of thefastener 24. The latter is forced into place in the said groove 2'7, andthe teeth or corrugations 25 bite into the walls of the said grooves toeffectively and securely hold the several component strips 11, 12',etc., against relative displacement.

While'I have shown and described several pre ferred embodiments of mydevice, it will be understood that various structural modifications maybe made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asset forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A fastener of the character and for the purpose described comprisinga U-shaped body member, the sides of said U being corrugated, and flattonguelike ends extending from the bottom of said U.

2. A fastener of the character and for the purpose described comprisinga wire body member of substantially circular cross section, the sides ofsaid body member being corrugated and flat tonguelike ends extendingtherefrom.

3. A unit of parquetry comprising a plurality of strips of flooring, aclip-supporting tongue extending from the several edges of said unit,said tongue being discontinuous, a groove in one surface of said unit,and a fastener of curved cross section wedged into said groove, thesides of said fastener being corrugated and in biting relation to saidstrips to positively prevent relative movement therebetween, and flattonguelike ends on said fastener extending into said tongue andrendering the latter continuous, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

4. A fastener of the character described, par-

